Lachstock and Four Turbo Charged Cylinders ['04 NB SE]

[Daffy]

Been in touch with poor ol speed during the week........ must have been something in the air for both of you on recent weekend outings. His appears to have blown a head gasket or potentially much worse

[StanTheMan]

Been in touch with poor ol speed during the week........ must have been something in the air for both of you on recent weekend outings. His appears to have blown a head gasket or potentially much worse

Let’s hope it’s only the gasket...that should be a walk in the park.


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[ManiacLachy]

And the failure was ....



The oil cooler!

It's a Flyin' Miata oil cooler kit I picked up second hand (but barely used) some years back, and installed by Automotive Plus because at the time I wasn't very confident on tools. I've always thought this thing was a liability where it's hung, at the bottom of the steering rack. It's taken a few scrapes from bottoming out on mountain runs where sudden dips in the road came up, and there appears to be a decent dent on the lower left corner. I don't recall any recent impacts that would have caused the damage, but the cooler was completely soaked, and once I pulled it off the car it was empty.

It's been in the back of my mind to remove the cooler for a couple of years. Well, that finally happened on Saturday.

Complicating the job, I also have a Thompson Oil Filter relocation kit, which sits on top of the sandwich plate to the oil cooler. As usual I made the whole job harder than need be.


Adaptors on adaptors

I pulled the relocation kit and lines, making a good mess in the process. Then the lines to the oil cooler, making even more mess. Then I flubbed around trying to unscrew the sandwich plate, but it fouled on the OEM oil warmer coolant hose barbs. I couldn't work out how it could even get on with those in the way. I finally found my print out of the FM instructions, the sandwich plate is held on by a post extender that threads on to the oil filter post, basically a bolt. Much easier to get off than I was making it out to be!

Finally with everything off I just put the oil filter back on the block and degreased everything. I don't think I'll put the relocation back in, it's extra fail points, and I can go back to using the stock filter location just fine. I won't bother with a replacement oil cooler, I don't think its' really necessary, at least not for the driving I do.

I haven't done a test yet to check nothing else is leaking, I was going to on Sunday, but Brisbane was absolutely tropical on Sunday after a deluge of rain Saturday and the sun was out Sunday morning making for an extremely humid climate, and it was just too much for me to be rolling around on the garage floor.

[bruce]

Good job!
I suspect it failed due to an old hit (it finally decided to leak now). Bet all those lines were full of oil and you made a magnificent mess.

[ManiacLachy]

Yep, every hose removed led to a puddle of oil. And then my flubbing about trying to get the sandwich plate off while oil kept dripping from the block! The cardboard sheet I was working on was soaked by the end, and I kept dropping my shoulder in the puddle while under the car.

Given how much oil was in the hoses, the oil cooler itself was quite empty, re-enforcing my belief that's where the leak is.

All in all, it could have been a lot worse. I'm glad I spotted it when I did and the fix is really just reverting a few parts back to stock, no hard to get replacements or new hoses etc.

[SKYHI]

Been away on holidays and missed the Naka meet unfortunately. Glad your oil issue didn't end up being too bad Lachy. Let's hope you get to enjoy driving the car a lot more this year

[Lokiel]

Glad that looks to be all the problem is, at least you can rectify it "easily".

I've never liked the FM oil cooler solution, it's angled wrong for airflow (I question it's actual cooling ability unless a duct is added to force air through it) and is mounted so low that it's certain to sustain damage at some point, as you've found.

MT.net also recommend using AN-10 hoses too or don't bother, the FM kit uses AN-8 hoses because they're easier to route.

[ManiacLachy]

Lokiel, a lot of your points I became aware of after the install, by which point it was in the "too hard basket". But sorted now!

Only downside is there's now no place for my oil temp & pressure senders. They weren't reading properly anyway, we were always going to come back and check the wiring etc around your CAN gauge, but Gina was the priority

[Nevyn72]

Only downside is there's now no place for my oil temp & pressure senders.

That's why, when I ditched my leaking oil filter relocation kit, I used a Mishimoto sandwich plate between the filter and the engine block.
The version I got has 3 ports available.

https://www.carmodsaustralia.com.au/oil ... apter.html

[Lokiel]

Lokiel, a lot of your points I became aware of after the install, by which point it was in the "too hard basket". But sorted now!
:

Yeah, removing it looked like a massive pain in the arse and I would have left it too until the inevitable happened, which is why "easy" was in quotes in my previous post.

I still think that "the foglight solution" works best in an MX5 with foglights, it's not obstructed by any other air cooler and does not obstruct any.

[ManiacLachy]

Well, it wasn't the oil cooler.


Me 10 minutes ago in the garage

So, I topped up the oil and ran the car for a few moments.

Belt screech to start, then OK.

Then a knocking sound, but not regular and sounded external to the motor. I think it's a pulley.

I stopped the car and looked underneath.


That wet brown stuff is supposed to stay inside!

FML.

Ok. So, maybe the crank pulley loosened and walked a little? And the front main pushed out some? The knock I hear might be the pulley and the leak is from the FMS?

Either way, I think I'm going to make an appointment to see Daffy's friend Dr. Darren. I don't want to tear down the front components again, clearly I can't be trusted. And I want to see Darren for some other work anyway - I was just hoping to drive and enjoy the car a little before that.

[greenMachine]

Bummer! It looks like oil is being thrown from the pulley, not just leaking down the cover/sump.

I know all about self-inflicted wounds. My car is sitting on the trailer, having dropped all its coolant. Following my removal and replacement of the turbo/manifold.



ETA: To stop hoses/fitting from leaking, I use the plastic plugs in male and female 10AN. Not a complete solution, but saves a LOT of cleanup, and is a nice solution for long or short term storage of hoses etc to stop oil getting out and wasps getting in . I think I bought a dozen of each from Speedflow so I always have a few on hand.

[bruce]

Oh no.

[Lokiel]

Bummer - time to add a BE Oil pump and build the engine?

[Custardtart]

I’m no expert on the NB but could it be the sump gasket or timing cover gasket? Is there a crank pulley seal there?